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Ergo Testing and New Boat
Because of the cold I picked up whilst away training in Slovenia I had to miss the scheduled ergo testing. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) this didn't mean I got out of doing the test.
For those unfamiliar with ergo testing it basically involves sitting on a paddling machine, having a mask attached to your face and performing repeatedly harder sets of exercise whilst blood samples are taken from your ear for lactate analysis, before culminating in an all out effort - in short, it hurts.....a lot!!
My own test required a relatively easy start, commencing at 50 watts (120bpm), before going up in 10 watt increments until the final 130 watt effort (180bpm-ish) - all of these sets were 4 minutes in duration, and were not particularly hard. What followed next, was truly a killer though.
It doesn't sound too bad; go as hard as you can for 3 minutes, and don't let up. As ever though, the devil is in the detail, with the crucial requirement being you start off maximally and hang on. In other words, pacing is not allowed.
Now because I'd missed the original testing I'd heard lots of stories from the other canoeists about how difficult this test was, needless to say I thought they were exaggerating - they weren't!
Forty seconds in, having started off well, the first shedload of lactic crashes into your arms, at sixty seconds the reality dawns that you've still got another 2mins to go, at 90 seconds my arms simply refused to pull any harder, at 2mins my legs started shaking uncontrollably (yes, this was a canoeing test), by 2.5 mins I was struggling to focus, and for the last 30 seconds I was struggling to a) breathe; b) actually see because of the black spots in my vision; and c) move my arms!
I can honestly say that was the hardest test of my paddling career. I've never experienced lactic, fatigue, and just sheer all over pain as that before. On the plus side, it would appear I performed very well.....there's even a video which I'll try to post shortly.
On another good note I finally took delivery of my new boat - the new Zigzag Aska 350. She's quite different to my previous Aska, and will take a little while to get fully used to. The first signs are good, however, with it turning quicker, running better, and lifting over stoppers and waves very well.
Next week, I'm off to Zoetermeer!
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